The Port Kembla 2505 Revitalisation Plan is a 25-year vision by the Wollongong City Council to revitalise the suburb of Port Kembla. The plan aims to enhance public life, attract people, and foster sustainable growth while respecting Port Kembla’s unique cultural history and natural surroundings. It addresses key challenges such as a declining population, an oversized town centre, poor connectivity, and the need to better integrate industrial and residential areas.
The plan addresses the 5 precincts of Port Kembla, highlighting important locations to focus investment for short, medium and long term change:
- Port Kembla Town Centre
- Military Road Spine
- Coastal Areas
- Recreational Areas
- Coomaditchie Lagoon
For this article we’d like to focus particular attention on the vision for the Port Kembla Town Centre, providing clarity on what Wollongong City Council has planned for the heart of this community.
Port Kembla Town Centre Context | NSW Government
An Overview of The Port Kembla Town Centre
Port Kembla Town Centre benefits from a unique urban setting, enriched by its proximity to natural open spaces and valuable heritage buildings, offering significant opportunities for adaptive reuse and increased residential density through thoughtful low to medium-rise infill development surrounding the centre.
Its strategic location, being close to the major employment hubs of Port Kembla and Wollongong, presents a clear advantage for attracting both residents and workers. The high-quality heritage architecture along Wentworth Street is worthy of conservation and contributes significantly to the town centre’s distinctive sense of place.
However, the town centre faces several challenges, including a significant portion of retail spaces, approximately one-third, currently being vacant, indicating a need for revitalisation. Negative perceptions surrounding safety and crime further hinder its appeal and discourage visitation. This is compounded by subdued business confidence, which limits investment and the establishment of new businesses.
Accessibility is also an issue, with poor pedestrian links to the railway station discouraging public transport use. The existing commercial zoning is likely too extensive to be supported by the projected population in 2036, and the steep topography of Wentworth Street creates pedestrian difficulties. The presence of a bottle shop as the largest anchor tenant in an isolated location does little to attract diverse foot traffic, and the nearby Warrawong shopping centre presents strong external competition.
Compounding these issues are the low projected population growth and the declining employment population from the steelworks. Finally, the town centre suffers from a disconnection from its coastline, missing an opportunity to leverage a valuable natural amenity, and the fact that a large majority, 69%, of the suburb is designated as industrial land may limit broader diversification and residential growth in the immediate vicinity.
A Closer Look At The Port Kembla Town Centre Transformation
Port Kembla’s Town Centre is poised for a significant transformation, with a clear vision to create a vibrant, viable, and active heart for the community. The Port Kembla 2505 Revitalisation Plan outlines a detailed strategy to achieve this, focusing on several key areas.
Intact inter-war buildings interlaced with large artworks concealing vacant shopfronts | NSW Government
Contracting and Activating The Core of Port Kembla
One of the core strategies is to “contract the size of the Town Centre”. Currently, the Town Centre is considered oversized, making it difficult to sustain economic activity across the entire area. By focusing development and commercial activity in a more concentrated area, the plan aims to create a more energetic and viable center. This involves clustering retail and commercial land uses to create a focal point and bring more energy to the street.
Illustrative Masterplan | This illustrative Masterplan spatially demonstrates how the strategic moves work across the Town Centre | NSW Government
Enhancing Wentworth Street
Wentworth Street is identified as the Town Centre’s main street, and the plan emphasises the importance of retaining and enhancing its architectural character. This includes:
- Conserving Heritage: Implementing a conservation area to protect the streetscape’s historic character.
- Facade Upgrades: Continuing the facade upgrade program with design guidelines to ensure new development is contextually appropriate.
- Improved Streetscape: Delivering consistent footpaths, outdoor dining spaces, attractive street furniture, and increased green canopy to create a more pedestrian-friendly and inviting environment.
Port Kembla Town Centre features a 600m retail strip with undulating topography contributes to a diluted centre that is economically hard to sustain, and difficult to walk | NSW Government
Increasing Residential Development
To support the Town Centre’s vitality, the plan aims to increase the supporting population by encouraging residential development. This involves:
- Mixed-Use Development: Promoting the adaptive reuse of existing buildings for various uses, including residential, to create a diverse and active center.
- Flexible Land Use Controls: Redefining the Town Centre to allow for residential use at the ground level, particularly in the transition zone between Fitzwilliam and Church Streets.
- Housing Diversity: Promoting low-rise, medium-density housing options to cater to a wider range of residents.
Improving Pedestrian Experience and Connectivity
Creating a walkable and accessible Town Centre is a key priority. Implementation strategies include:
- Pedestrian Priority: Undertaking detailed design of key intersections to prioritise pedestrian movement and deter heavy vehicles.
- Wayfinding: Developing a comprehensive wayfinding system to help people navigate the Town Centre and connect to other areas of Port Kembla.
Artist Impression – Example of potential changes only | NSW Government
Creating a Central Gathering Place
The plan proposes establishing a town plaza to serve as a focal point for community activities. This plaza will be designed in partnership with the community and activated by surrounding buildings with high-quality shopfronts and tenancies.
Enhancing Amenity and Safety
Additional strategies focus on enhancing the overall amenity and safety of the Town Centre:
- Car Parking: Providing accessible and convenient car parking to support both visitors and workers.
- Lighting: Delivering a lighting strategy that enhances the ambiance and perceptions of safety, encouraging people to utilise the center at night.
By implementing these key strategies, the Port Kembla 205 Revitalisation Plan aims to transform the Town Centre into a thriving hub that meets the needs of residents, celebrates its unique character, and drives the overall revitalisation of Port Kembla.
Opportunities For Developers
The Port Kembla Town Centre’s revitalisation offers developers opportunities in new residential and mixed-use projects, adaptive reuse of buildings, and catering to increased demand driven by an enhanced town center. Developers can align with the council’s vision for potential support and benefit from infrastructure improvements. However, they must also navigate design guidelines, heritage constraints, community expectations, market feasibility, and maintain a long-term perspective to ensure projects contribute to the overall revitalisation.
Stay Ahead of the Curve
Allen price is well-equipped to assist developers in capitalising on the opportunities that will be presented in Port Kembla over the coming years. Our expertise in town planning, civil engineering, project management, and land surveying services can guide developers through the complexities of this ongoing revitalisation. We offer comprehensive support in navigating the approval process, ensuring compliance with regulations, and managing project timelines and budgets.
